NEW YORK, Jan. 14, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- NYU Langone Medical Center is pleased to announce that it resumed additional services effective today, including all pediatric services and labor and delivery. The Emergency Department at NYU Langone remains temporarily closed due to damage sustained from Hurricane Sandy and the medical center will not be accepting EMS/911 ambulances at this time. In recognizing the community's need for urgent health services, NYU Langone has worked with city and state officials to establish a new Urgent Care Center, staffed by NYU Langone emergency medicine physicians, nurses, and specialists, that can treat a variety of adult and pediatric walk-in patients requiring immediate care.

"Last month we made a commitment to our faculty, staff, and the larger community, that we would be completely back up and running before the end of January, and I am thrilled to announce today that we are now reopened ahead of schedule," said Robert I. Grossman, MD, dean and CEO at NYU Langone Medical Center. "Thanks to the hard work of countless individuals, we are able to once again focus on providing the highest quality care to our patients on making NYU Langone stronger than ever."

As of today, all obstetrics and gynecology physicians have returned and all services have resumed, including labor and delivery, the KiDS of NYU Langone Neonatal ICU (NICU), Mother/Baby Unit, pediatrics, and the Laurence D. and Lori Weider Fink Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU). Additional inpatient services at NYU Langone resumed today: the Congenital Cardiovascular Care Unit; epilepsy; hematology/oncology; internal medicine; neurology; and surgical transplant. Additionally, the inpatient psychiatry, cardiac rehabilitation, and dialysis services remain closed with consultation/bedside services available at this time.

The new Urgent Care Center, open 24 hours a day, seven days a week, is located at NYU Langone's main facility near 530 First Avenue at 30th Street, in room HCC-102. The Urgent Care Center can be reached through a marked entrance just north of the parking garage on First Avenue. The initial triage and treatment area is located on the first floor of NYU Langone's Schwartz Health Care Center. Here, patients will be evaluated and potentially treated and released, or escorted to a larger treatment and observation area on the 16th floor of Tisch Hospital.

Patients visiting the Urgent Care Center will benefit from having access to the medical center's full spectrum of resources and support, including MRIs, x-rays, CT scans, and consultations with a full array of specialists and subspecialists including surgeons, orthopedists, cardiologists, gynecologists, ophthalmologists and more. The center is also staffed with pediatric emergency medicine specialists and has dedicated pediatric space.

Examples of immediate care walk-in cases that NYU Langone's Urgent Care Center has the capabilities to treat include, but are not limited to the following:

Chest pain – includes heart attack and stroke

Lacerations

Appendicitis

Pneumonia

Infections (e.g. kidney)

Gallbladder

Breathing difficulties (i.e. asthma)

Cold or flu

Diarrhea

Ear infections

Fever or chills

Muscle pain

Nausea and vomiting

Respiratory infections

Skin rashes and infections

Sore throat or cough

Sprains and strains

Urinary tract infections

Poison/toxic substances

Burns

Potential broken limb

For the time being, patients experiencing psychiatric emergencies will be referred to appropriate emergency departments at other hospitals.

About NYU Langone Medical Center:NYU Langone Medical Center, a world-class, patient-centered, integrated, academic medical center, is one of the nation's premier centers for excellence in clinical care, biomedical research and medical education. Located in the heart of Manhattan, NYU Langone is composed of four hospitals – Tisch Hospital, its flagship acute care facility; the Hospital for Joint Diseases, recognized as one of the nation's leading hospitals dedicated to orthopaedics and rheumatology; Hassenfeld Pediatric Center, a comprehensive pediatric hospital supporting a full array of children's health services; and Rusk Rehabilitation, devoted entirely to rehabilitation medicine – plus NYU School of Medicine, which since 1841 has trained thousands of physicians and scientists who have helped to shape the course of medical history. The medical center's tri-fold mission to serve, teach and discover is achieved 365 days a year through the seamless integration of a culture devoted to excellence in patient care, education and research. For more information, go to www.NYULMC.org.